Now that we’re into our second week of being able to ship mixed cases, we’re adding a couple cases of top California icons. The fact that most of these wines are $100+ per bottle has often made trying them somewhat inaccessible to many customers available only in cases of 6. While these are still 6packs, we’ve mixed them up with 2 bottles each from some of California’s most iconic producers.

Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay from Ramey Vineyard.

Before David Ramey opened his own winery in 1996 he spent nearly 20 years being the winemaker at some of the most famous Chardonnay producers in California: Chalk Hill, Dominus, and Rudd. You could say he knows a thing or two about Cali Chard. Many of those wines were quite big and redefined the style of California Chardonnay for a whole generation. But when he opened Ramey he was re-defining it again. His style went decidedly Old World with focus on restraint, elegance, and freshness. His models were the top wines of Burgundy but made at home in California. These were a departure from what he was making at places like Chalk Hill. He took a far more specific single-vineyard, terroir-focused approach in working with some of the top growers in Sonoma and Napa, highlighting the differences and nuances in their individual plots. Everything, even his labels even scream big Burgundy wines. Now, 24 years later these are wines loved by Old World lovers and California cult fans alike. This mixed case features 2 bottles of 3 of his Chardonnays. Click here for more on Ramey and here’s what the Wine Advocate had to say about these bottles:

RAMEY CHARDONNAY // $600 per 6-pack

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California Chardonnay is iconic, but Cabernet is king and the Napa Valley is its kingdom. It’s hard to find many good Napa Cabernets less than $80-$100 these days. Napa has become so famous that it has driven up the prices of the land and the bottles so in order to stay profitable most wineries need to charge that kind of money per bottle, regardless of quality or pedigree. So understanding that is the ticket price to the world of Napa Cabernet, you have to find the great producers. And for my money, most of those are the families that have been doing it the longest. They’re the most traditional and experienced in the region. They bought the land and built the wineries decades before prices skyrocketed, so while they’re still $100+, they’re a value considering they’d be double or triple the price if they purchased those epic vineyards and started those wineries today.

Heitz Cellar was started by Joe Heitz in the 1950’s. They are singularly one of the most famous Cabernet Sauvignon producers in the world. Their ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ Cabernet helped launch California onto the world stage in the famous Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976 which the movie Bottle Shock was made about (although the movie focused on Chateau Montelena and their Chardonnay). Martha’s Vineyard is approx $450 a bottle today, but this Napa Cabernet is reminiscent of Bordeaux and the old world style that Napa was originally famous for in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. This ‘Napa Valley’ bottling blends several of their vineyards across the valley. It’s one of my all time favouite California wines and a relative value at $125/bottle. Click here for more on Heitz.

Joseph Phelps is equally as famous as Heitz. Their top wine ‘Insignia’ was the first high-end proprietary blend from Napa in 1974. Like Martha’s Vineyard, it’s also approximately $450 a bottle today, as one of the all-time icon wines of California. So like Heitz, the Napa Cabernet is a pretty big value at $135. This one is a bit bigger and riper than Heitz, it’s mostly valley floor fruit so it’s a little more robust but they both keep things pretty traditional for California.

Barnett Vineyards on Spring Mountain looking east over Napa Valley

Barnett Vineyards is a bit different, it’s mountain fruit. It’s perched high up on Spring Mountain on the Mayacaymas Range that separates Napa from Sonoma overlooking Napa Valley to the east. The main difference between valley floor fruit and mountain fruit is the structure. You get a cooler micro-climate from the higher elevation, cooler breezes, and cooler nights. And in many aspects more sun exposure for ripening as well. The result is powerful wines with more structure in both tannin and acid. And Barnett is such a great, extremely boutique operation with less than 10’000 cases per year. Click here for their website and see the notes below for more details on each of these wines.

NAPA CABS // $800 per 6-pack

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We also have all the mixed cases from last week still available too! If a sampler pack of some super drinkable Poolside Whites or an assortment built for chillin’ on the patio is more your speed, or BBQ’ing with everything from Rosé to Malbec, then The Long Weekender might be for you! OR maybe a mix of some amazing Pinot Noirs from Burgundy, Oregon, and New Zealand? Check all those out here on last week’s offer. There is currently no button to order mixed cases on the Lifford site, so please just send an order directly through the Contact page here!

Just a reminder, the deadline to order mixed cases for delivery on Friday is this Tuesday, June 23 at 12PM. And Wednesday at 12PM for regular non-mixed cases of wine for Friday.